f. 



16 



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CIRCTTLAR T.F. TTER 

O F 

D. LEVY 

TO ,'w- <,-.. -. .. 

TO THE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA, 

RELATIVE TO 'V'* ^ V^iJuL 

THE ADMISSION OF FLORIDA INTO THE U^ION. 



i ^ 



J7 



^ \ 






f 



TO THE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA. 



(ol 



We have reached a crisis in our affairs, my truly venerated fellow-citi- 
zens. It has become my duty to address you, and yours to consider, upon 
a subject of vital interest, and of abiding consequence, to the community 
we compose. Twenty three years ago, nearly the span of a generation in hu- 
man life, a Territorial organization was prescribed for our government. 
Now, after this long period of subjection to superior authority, circum- 
stances require a decided resolution upon our part, whether this relation 
shall continue foran indefinite period yet to come, or shall be altered to 
the conditiuij of equal citizenship, nnd the rank of n free, independent so- 
vereign people, ccmfederated with the glorious American Union of States 
It IS essential that we resolve ourselves at present upon this interesting 
point. We cannot longer |)ause in hesitation. Indefinite postponement 
'»'• prompt assumption of the rights and privileges of independence, is the 
sue now upon us. We must decide, and as^'we decide now, so is onr 
estinynxed. If we please to assert the right of self-government, and a 
Jlaceinthe American Union, it is ours; if we please to decline the as- 
imption of this privilege, we may unquestionably do so: but we then 
jase to be the arbiters of our own fate, for reasons here.ifter to be explain- 
ed; and it will rest with accident to decide when, and how, we may 
emerge, if ever, from a state ol Territorial dependence. Now we may ere- 
ate our destiny. Henceforward, we become the subject of chance and cir- 
cnrnstance. I speak with reference to our political relations and destiny 
1 address you as a whole. I discard all thought of political, sectional! 
or personal divisions. I address myself to Whigs and Republicans— to 
i^ast. South, Middle, and West; to all, whatsoever their predilections or 
affinities, who inhabit the land of Florida. Be the temporary and r.assinff 
divisions of the day what they may, there can be none so lost to what it 
duetothemselves, and to their posterity, as not to be impressed with aft 
anxious solicitude to provide for the best interests, and enduring happi- 
ness, of the community. I entreat you to take into your deliberate conside- " 
ration what I shall submit, and to direct me, as your servant, in the man- 
ner you may deem most advisable. Let us all come together in counsel, 
with that grave, reflecting, candid, and patriotic spirit which befiis the 
momentous issue that presents itself. None can be more deeply impress- 
ed than I feel myself to be with the importance and delicacy of the occaw 
sion; and none, I am rery conscious, can be more impartial and unpreju- 
diced in the temper with which it is approached. Let me bespeak a si mi- 
ar spirit on the part of all ; for the question I present is a question for 
the country-for all interests, for all classes. I stand prepared to act as 
you shall order. Determine ye then, fellow-citizens. 
Iproceed to lay before you the circumstances which induce this ad- ■ 



dress, and wliichhave conspired to render an early decision upon the part 
of Florida, necessary. 

The people of our sister Territory of Iowa have, by a strong' vote, at 
the polls, decided upon application for admission as a Slate at the next 
session of Congress; They have elected delegates to a convention, wliich 
is to set during the present moiuh, for the adoption of a Constitution; and at 
the next session of Congress her demand for admission will be made. 
Hitherto, it has not been, essential that the people of Florida should take 
any decided action upon the subj-^ci of admission, inasmuch as thai no 
permanent political effect could result from delay. But now the case is 
altered. It is essential that we should act; and a failure to act, will per- 
manently affect our political attitude and prospects. 

From the inception of the Federal Constitution, it has been the po- 
licy of statesmen to create and preserve such a sj'^stem of checks in 
the organization and practice of tlie Government, as would secure from 
oppression all the different divisions and interests of the country. A Go- 
vernment entirely national would have resulted in consolidation, and the 
subjection of the whole country to the rule of that portion of it in whicli 

the majority of tho population iTiight h.ivo csnteracl. 

As for instance, referring to the late census, and looking to the politi- 
cal divisions, we find that, under a purely national form of government, 
the population of the six large States of the Union, occupying an aggre- 
gate area of 251,000 square miles, would have held absolute rule over 
the remaining twenty States and three Territories, covering an aggregate 
area of one million and thirty-six thousand square miles. Again, look- 
ing to the great divisions of North and South, we find that the popula- 
tion of the thirteen nonslaveholding States, with an area of 364,000 
square miles, would have held absolute sway in the Government over the 
thirteen weaker slaveholding States, having an area of 574,000 square 
miles. The consequence of this would have been, that the six large 
States would have given law to the rest, and the North to the South; or 
vice versa, the South to the North, had the preponderance of population 
and power, proved to be in favor of the South, as was expected to be the 
case at the date of the adoption of the Constitution. The only security 
at'ainst these results, was to give a federative basis to the Government, 
by preserving the distinct State sovereignties: and by engrafting upon the 
federative basis a sufficiency of the popular element to give democratic 
tone to the Government, there was still insured that sympathy and homo- 
geneity in the national Union which might not have attended a less inti- 
mate confederation. The Senate was organized with reference to these 
objects. While the constitution of the House, and the mixed elements of 
popular and State power that entered into the constitution of the Execu- 
tive, insured at all times a democratic impulse to the Government, the Se- 
»ate was so arratiged as to establish and preserve to all time the separate 
existence and sovereignty of the States, and give to the weaker a defensive 
power against the attacks of the stronger divisions. The equality and 
individuality of the States was the leading feature designed to be im- 
pressed upon the united Government by the constitution of the Senate. 
It is, and was designed to be, the palladium of State rights, and the ba- 
lancing power betw<een the great and opposite divisions and sections of 
the Republic. It was tne conservative check against the tyranny of 
numbers, or sections, or interests. At the date of the adoption of the 



Constitution, the Northern States looked with apprehension to the grow- 
ing prosperity of the South, its extensive domain, and its probable^ j)re- 
ponderanne of power. To guard ooainst the apprehended supremacy of 
the Southern plantation States, the Northern States more readily yielded 
to the compromise, one of the itenas of which was the concession demand- 
ed by the weak States of absolute equality in the Senate; and the South 
accepted it the more readily, from the fact that the number and popula- 
tion of the Northern States would be ascendant in the organization and first 
periods of the new Government, 

From the first history of the political concert of the Stales, after the De- 
claration of Independence, the diversity of interest between the North and 
South has been of prominent exhibition. The journals of the Congress 
of the Confederation reveal the sectional antagonism of these two great 
divisions. United as they were in sympathy and patriotic confraternity, 
it was still found difficult to reconcile the legislation of the Confederation 
to the circumstances of both divisions, so opposite were the local interests 
peculiar to each. And the conflicts which occurred in the history of that 
body in so regulating the system of legislation, as to operate with equality, 
forced into view the (act, that as respected (heir relative and respective in- 
terests, the North and the South constituted two marked divisions of the 
country. This antagonism of interest came still more prominently into 
view in the discussions and transactions of the Convention by whicli the 
present Constitution was adopted. In addition to the variance of local in- 
terests, growing out of diversity of habits, climate, productions, (fcc. there 
was then, (or the first time, brought into bold exposure the variance of 
feeling growing out of the institution of slavery. Mr. Madison, in very 
direct terms, pointed to this fact in the course of the deliberations of that 
body. He said. "He admitted that every peculiar interest, whether in any 
class of citizens or any description of States, ought to be secured as far 
as possible. Wherever there is danger of attack there ought to be given a 
constitutional power of defence. But he contended that the State's were 
divided into different interests, not by their difference of size, but by other 
circumstances, the most material of which resulted partly from climate, 
but principally /AY)7/^ //«e effects of their having or not having slaves'. 
These two causes concurred in lorming the great division of inTerests in 
the United States. It did not lie between the large and small States; it 
lay biitween the Northern and Southern; and if any defensive power 
were necessary, it ought to be mutually given to these two interests." 

Mr. Rufus King, of Massachusetts, and others, confirmed this view. 
Mr. King said : " He was fully convinced that the question concernino-a 
difference of interests did not lie where it had hitherto been discussed, be- 
tween the great and small States, but between the Southern and Easte'rn." 

A leading desire with the moderate men of both sections was to provide 
a balance between these two great divisions, and the means of mutual de- 
fence against the oppression or* attacks of ehher. With this view compro- 
mises were arranged, by which the political power of the two sections, 
under ^the new Government, was as nearly equalized as possible. It 
'"" ' ' ' .... ^^ 




beyond the North in populc. 
tion and strength. But the Senate, it was thought, would preserve the 
equilibrium, and maintain the weaker against the attacks of the stronger 



section. And for the immediate preponderance which the North would 
have in the first ors^anization of the House, and the concession made td 
the navigatino; interest of that section, the South was satisfied hy the 
federative character given to the Government in the constitution of the 
Senate, the prohibition of export duties, and the partial rejiresentation of 
slaves, toijetfier with the prospect of early ascendancy in the House. How 
totally and strangely does the march ot Providence defy the forecast and 
anticipation of the wisest of men. So far from that speedy ascendancy of 
the South in the popular branch of the Federal Legislature, which was 
confidently expected hy all parties in the convention, it is a remarkable 
fact that, at each successive enumeration, the South has sunk further and 
further into the minority, until, by the last apportionments, they are lite- 
rally overwhelmed by northern supremacy. The following table exhibits 
the progressive ratio of power betwenn the two divisions in the House: 

Constilution, 1790 ISQO 1810 1S20 1830 1840 

North 30 57 77 104 123 152 135 

South 35 49 65 79 90 1 00 88 

Thus it has resulted that the Senate, v%'hirh was at first regarded rather 
as the bulwark of defence lor the small Eastern States, has become in 
fact the only refuge of the South for protection. 

The equilibrium between the two great divisions of North and South 
may be regarded as one of the ffreat principles of our system of Union. 
And this equilibrium has thus (ur been maintained. 

It is true that the Union, when first organized, being composed of an 
odd number of States, it was impossible to produce a numerical balance 
in the Senate. But althouijh this gave apparent advantage to the North- 
ern interest, yet an actual equipoise resulted horn the fact, that at the date 
of the adoption of the Constitution, the number of slaves in New Jersey 
and New York was so great, as to ensure for some years a sympathy with 
the South on the part of those States, By the census of 1790, three years 
after the convention sat, there were found to be, in the State of New Yoik 
21,324 slaves, iuid in New Jersey 11,423. This principle of an equili- 
brium between these two divisions, passed immediately afici the organiza- 
tion of the new Government, into practical adoption. I state upon the 
authority of a speech of Mr. Clay, that upon the occasion of the very first ap- 
plication of a new State for admission, apractical recognition was given to 
it by Cono^ress, it being insisted upon by the North that a balancing North- 
ern State should be received in conjunction. 

Mr. Clav, npjn that occasion, stated that the admission of Kentucky 
had been delayed eighteen months before she was permitted to come in, 
until Vermont also was ready. A member from the North (Mr. Holmes 
of Massachusetts,) havinor expressed some surprise at the statement, Mr. 
Clay re-asserted it upon the authority of his own knowledge of the trans- 
actions of tliat day, in which he said he had participated in some degree, 
and assured him, that the proposition canle from the North, to delay 
the admission of Kentucky into the Union, until Vermont was ready 
to enter. 

Thus the admission of Vermont was forced as a balance to Kentucky, 
although a relative numerical advantage was still preserved by it in favor 
of ttie North ; but the application of these States being to the first Congress 
after the adoption of the Constitution, and the expectation of Southern as- 
cendancy iu the House being still prevailing, the sanK; influences existed 



to render this proper as when the original arrangement was made in con- 
vention. This anticipation of Southern growth soon be^an to be aban- 
doned, and Tennessee was admitted into the Union singly, in 1796, thus 
making an exact balance of States between the two divisions. Ohio was 
admitted in 1802, but the acceptable consideration to the South was the 
acquisition of Louisiana, and the treaty provision for its admission into the 
Union ; and accordingly the admission of Louisiana into the Union a few 
years afterwards restored the balance. In regular succession followed In- 
diana and Mississippi ; and then Illinois and Alabama. These two brace 
of slaveholding and non-slaveholding States although not brought in on the 
same day, were on the tapis at the same time; so that the understanding of 
a continued equipoise in the Senate was preserved. The first attempt 
made by either section to violate this ancient and sacred precedent, and 
mutual defence, was by the North on the occasion of the application of 
Missouri for admission. The North had acquired full possession of the 
House. To obtain possession of the Senate would secure possession of 
the Government. Ttie Northern majority in the House passed a bill 
admitting Maine without condition, but annexed to the admission of Mis- 
souri the condition that slavery should not exist within its borders. This 
would at once have brought the South or slaveholding States into sub- 
jection. The value of the conservative principle of equilibrium in 
the Senale was made manifest in this struggle. The Senate refused to 
admit Maine, without the simultaneous unconditional admission of Mis- 
souri, and blended the two bills, by amendment, into one measure. For 
repeated sessions the struggle raged, and terrible was the excitement 
produced in the nation, and appalling the danger which threatened the 
Union, from this memorable conflict between the two great divisions. 
A compromise succeeded, whicli resulted iu the unconditional admis- 
sion of both these States, and in the settled abandonment of any fu 
ture attempt upon either side to disturb the balance of power in the Se- 
nate. Since that time, Arkansas and Michigan, a slaveholdin<3; and non- 
slaveholding State, were quietly admitted together, and the balance of 
free and slave States, preserved to the present day. The free Territory of 
Iowa now comes forward for admission, Florida has been been looked 
to as the counterpoise for her. If they enter the Union together, the equi- 
librium is preserved. If not, the North comes at once into supremacy in 
the Senate, and the South, thus reduced to a minority in both brandies, 
falls defenceless before the power of the North, and holds lier rights at 
the mercy of her rival. Whether the long sanctilied precedent of u ba- 
lance between these two great divisions shall be continued or abandoned, 
rests now with us; and therefore it is that the application of Iowa for ad- 
mission connects itself with the course and policy of Florida, and re- 
quires a definite and prompt resolution upon our part. By entering the 
Union with Iowa, we contribute to maintain the defensive j)0wer of the 
South. By declining, we throw the unrestricted possession of the Go- 
vernment into the hands of the North, and they may admit us afterwards 
or not, at their pleasure, and with, or without slavery, at their pleasure, 
without the ability of the South to help us; and therefore it is I have 
said, that now we are the arbiters of our own destiny, and henceforward 
we become the subject of chance and circumstance. 

Inasmuch as the prospects and destiny of Florida, not only as a distinct 
community, but as a part of the South, might be permanently and serious- 



ly involved in the results which may grow out of the adnaission of Iowa 
Avithout a counterpoise, I have deemed it my duty to lay the subject before 
you, that I may receive your inatructions as to the course I shall adopt ia 
your name, at the next session. And at this point I might with propriety 
close my communication to you. But as my access to public documents 
and other sources of information here, (uiable me to collate data which may 
not be within the reach of all, and which may be useful to those who 
seek for truth and are desirous of reaching a correct conclusion upon so 
imi)ortant a subject, 1 have thouirht that it would not be regarded intrusive 
upon my p.itt, to unite withyou in counsel, by laying at once beforeyou the 
reflections which have occurred to me, and the statistics I have prepared 
in illustration of them. 

I take it for granted that it would be the pleasure of Florida to meet the 
wishes of her sisters of the Soutti, by maintaining the balance of power in 
the Senate, if it can be done without unreasonable sacrifice. It is certainly 
the interest of Florida to sustain and promote Southern policy. It is her 
interest to prolong and establish the defensive power of the South against 
attacks or aggression upon her peculiar institutions and- interests. It is 
her interest to secure in time her due position in the Union, if by delay 
she incurs the hazards of submitting to the alternative either of permanent 
dependance, or a surrender of her domestic policy, in respect to the exist- 
ence of slavery within her borders ; an alternative which she will be re- 
duced to. as surely as we resign to the non-s!aveholding States the un- 
checked possession of the legislative power of the Union. The Missouri 
question is a standing lesson ot history, and the cords of petitions which 
lumber tha files of Congress against our admission with the institution of 
slavery, show that the course of that conflict is to be reproduced in the 
case of Florida. Of course, if we allow the South to be shorn of the locks 
of strength which Senatorial equality now confers, we go into the contest 
without power of resistance. It is, therefore, no less our own interest than 
that of the South generally, that we should add a State to the Union at 
once, il it be practicable. 

Can we do so ? To do it will involve of course, to some degree, a sacri- 
fice of opinion on the part of some, a sacrifice of interest on the part of 
others, and an assumption by the whole of responsibilities, duties, and 
burdens, not now directly resting upon them. 

There will be required a sacrifice of opinion on the part of that highly 
respectable portion of our citizens, both as to numbers and it)fluencc, who 
believe that our local interests will be best promoted by longer protraction 
of our admission, or by a division into two Territories, with a view of ulti- 
mately forming two Stales. 

There will be required a sacrifice of interest on the part of those of our 
citizens who hold lucrative offices under the P"'ederal Government, which 
would cease to exist, or to be equally profitable, when we cease to be a 
Territory ; on the part of those who hold large grants of land, which now 
can be held without taxation, but which under a State Government would 
be subjected to contribution equally with the property of others, both for 
county and State purposes; and on the part of those who hold charters 
of incorporation, the monopolizing provisions of which they apprehend 
may be interfered with by a State Government. 

There will be required an assumption by all of responsibilities, duties, 
and burthens, which do not now devolve upon them. The responsibili- 



ty of self-government, with the various duties that attach to it, and the 
burthen of providing for the support of Government. 

Inasmuch as it would be unnecessary to make sacrifice either of opinion 
or interest, if we are not capable of providing- means for the support of an 
independent Government, it is proper to consider that point first ; and as 
our ability to ])rovide tliese means will be more or less iiffected by such 
circumstances of positive advaiUajre and stimulated prosperity, as will of 
necessity follow the change of government, it is proper to take a survey 
first of this branch of the subject. 

What, then, are the benefits, either direct or indirect, which will flow 
from State Government, and which will thus add to our ability and wil- 
ling:ness to bear the eftbrt of self support ? 

First. The first great, very great, benefit, will be the means it will confer 
upon us, of improving our rivers and roads, and constructing railroads and 
canals. 

Immediately upon ouradmission, we shall become entitled to 500,000 acres 
ot land, (to be selected in such manner as our Legislature may direct, in 
parcels not less ilian 320 acres, ui lialf a section,) for internal improve- 
ments, to wit: (in the language of the law,) "Roads, railways, bridges, 
canals, and improvements of water courses, and draining of swamps." 

The value of this fund depends, of course, upon the period at wliich we 
are admitted. If our admission is delayed until the best lands are all en- 
tered, of course the value of the donation will be small. If we are admit- 
ted now, while the whole of the large body of highly valuable lands at pre- 
sent undisposed of, are open to our selection, the fund derivable jroni this 
source will be of immense value. No man who properly appreciates the 
value of lands in Florida can doubt that a selection of half a million of 
acres of land, made now, could be so located as to be worth, at the lowest 
calculation, ten dollars per acre. If any one doubts this, let him ask him- 
self, if he possessed a float of half a section, which he could locate on any 
public lands he pleased in Florida, whether he could not so locate it as to 
be worth more than ten dollars per acre. Now, the power of selection of 
this half million is equivalent to a float vested in Florida, to be located in 
half sections. The value is immense. My own opmion is that it ought 
to realize twenty dollars per acre, when we consider the value of sugar 
lauds in Louisiana, and compare the superiority of the climate of Florida 
over all others in the United States for the production of sugar, sea island 
cotton, tobacco, fruits, &c. 

Suppose, then, the eventual yield from this donation to be ten dol- 
lars per acre ; 500,000 acres, at $10 per acre, would give a fund of Jive 
millions of dollars^ applicable to internal improvements. The interest, 
alone, upon this fund, loaned out to our farmers, upon good security, at the 
legal rate of interest in Florida, would yield /our hundred Ihoii^and dol- 
lars fer annum, applicable to the improvement of rivers and roads, and the 
construction of railroads, besides giving an impetus to agricultural pros- 
perity by the addition of so large a capital to its resources. 

Suppose the land to realize only $5 per acre, still the annual interest 
would be two hundred thousand dollars for these purposes. Now, when 
it is considered that this money will be expended under the direction of 
our own people, by engineers and contractors of our own selection, and 
applied to objects of our own preference, it is easy to see how much 



10 

farther this sum would 2[o towards accomplishing substantial improve- 
ments, than the same Slim appropriated by Congress for purposes of its 
own selection, nnd expended by its own officers. And one year's income 
from this immense fund, will be more than the whole amount appropriated 
by Congress for roads and rivers in Florida, from its first existence as a 
Territory to the present day. 

If a part of this fund for internal improvement is applied to the con- 
struction of a railroad from the Atlantic to t'.je Gulf of Mexico, it would 
be, as such a road oir<iht to be, and 1 hope will be, the property of the 
State, whereby it would be subject to the use of our citizens, without the 
impositions and exactions which a private chartered monopoly would im- 
pose, und the profits of the road u-oiild support a State Government^ 
without taxatioTi. 

Second. The next great advantas^e — incalculablv great advantage — 
whicli we shall derive from admission, respc'cis education. 

There lias already been reserved two townships of land fora university, 
and two townships more are proposed to he orranted for the .?omt; pnijiuse; 
one university to be located east of the Suwanney, and the other west of it 
— a provision rendered desirable on account of the distance between the ex- 
tremes of Florida. These lour townshij>s will amount to 92,160 acres of 
land, which, at ten dollars pur acre, would be $921,600, or nearly one 
million. That ten dollars an acre is a f;iir estimate, is proven by the fact, 
that some of the lauds already located are stated to be worth, and capable 
of being now sold al, ))rices varying from $15 to $ 10 per acre. 

There are also reserved for iheuseof common schools, the 16th sec- 
tion of each townsliip. There are in Florida 1,528 townships, and the 
16th section of each one is good as to title, notwithstanding the extensive 
Spanish grants — the actoflast session, allowing a re-location wherever the 
title fails. This, then, yields 977,920 acres of land applicable to the sup- 
port of common schools. Taking into consideration the fact that some 
of these 16th sections are of little value, (though much less in f)roportion 
than before the allowance was granted of a change of locations where the 
title was deficient,) I will estimate these lands at an average value of only 
two dollars and a half, which will yield the sum of $2,444,800, or nearly two 
and a half millions of dollars. If Congress, as is possible, perhaps probable, 
should allow us to chauije the location wherever the 16th section should 
prove valueless, of course the value of this fund will be greatly increased. 
In addition to this, five per cent, of all the lands sold in Florida will be 
granted for purposes of education. 

Now, the benefit of all this immensely valuable fund for education is 
totally lost to us until we become a State; inasmuch as no title vests 
while we are a Territory, and no use, therefore, can be made of any part ofit. 

Taking the University and common school funds together, there would 
be a capital of $3,366,400; which, at the legal interest, would yield 
$269,312 per annum for the education of the youth of both sexes. 

By the census of 1840 it appears there were within the limits of Flo- 
rida 2,825 males between the ayes of 10 and 20, and 2,760 females of the 
same age; making of both sexes, 5,585; and, out of these, only 925 w«re re- 
ceiving the benefits of schooling. Now, was this immense fund for edu- 
cation in condition to be applied to that purpose, there would be, without 
touching a dollar of the original capital, nn annual fund of $480 for 



u 

each youth of both sexes between the ages of 10 and 20. (Note 1.) Or 
if you rate the University lands at only $5 per acre, and the common 
school lands at $1 25, there would be $240 for each child annually— 
€nouo-h to give each one a perfect education. 

Third. The next advantage we would derive from becommg a State, 
would be the impetus it would 2:ive to immigration. It is to be presumed 
that like results will follow the admissionof Florida, which have invariably 
attended the admission of other Territories. I will not undertake to as- 
sio-n the causes, but certain it is, that the result of admission has in every 
iiistance been a wonderfully accelerated progression m population and 
wealth. The greater confidence in the stability and wisdom of legislation, 
the greater vPgor and benefits of self-government and domestic sove- 
reignty, the more active efforts and efficient service of the public men of 
the^ State in pressing forward the development of its resources, may be, in 
part, the reasons; but of the eflect there can benodonbt. 

Ohio, admitted with a population of 45,000, in ten years after had a po- 
pulation of 230,7r»0 

Indiana, established in 1800, with a population of 4,875, reached, in 
10 years of Territorial Government, 24,520: At the next census after her 
adinissionshe had 147,178; and at the succeeding one, 14 years only after 
her admission, had 343,031. 

Illinois, established in 1809, with about 12,000, was admitted with about 
50,000 inhabitants. In about 10 years afierwards, at the census of 1830, 
she had 157,455; and at the next census, 476,153. 

Alabama was admitted in 1819, with about 100,000 inhabitants, and 
had, in 11 years afterwards, 309,000; and in 1840, 590,000. 

Missouri, established in 1812, with about 28,000, had reached, under 
Territorial Government, in 1820, only 66.000. In ten years afterwards, 
under a State Government, she had 140,000; and in ten years more383,000. 

Mississippi, established in 1798, with about 8,000 inhabitants, reach- 
ed, in 19 years of Territorial Goxernment, only about 60,000 inhabi- 
tants. In i2 years of State Government, she reached 136,000; and in 
22 years of State Government, 375,000. 

Louisiana, established in 1803, with all her original population, 
reached, in nine years of Territorial Government only 80,060 inhabit- 
ants; and in eight years of State Government, had reached 153,000. 

Arkansas, established in 1819, had readied m 17 years of Territorial 
Government, 60,000; and in 4 years after admission, had 97,000. 

Michigan, established in 1805, had reached, after 31 years of Terriiorial 
Government, 70,000; and in 4 years of State Government, had reached 
212,000. 



(Note I.) In respect to the value of the school lands, the following eslimale, the 
reasonableness of which will strike every one, shows that a valuation of $2 50 per acre 
is not too much. 

Suppose one-fifth to be first rate, 195,-584 acres, at $10 per acre, - 1,955,840 

2d rate, " $2 50 " - - 488,960 

3d rate, '■ $1 25 " - - 244,480 

" 50 cents i)er acre, - - - 97,792 

no value at all, - - - 00,000 

2,787,072 
Add value of the University lands, - - - - 921,600 

Or between 3 and 400,000 dollars more than the estimate of $2 50 per acre, $3,708,672 



12 



)"»ll other cases ""'"^ P™""":""" of causes operaling to like effects 

will have of sccri " L o , ci,i,e , "' '''1''' "'"' ""= """'" "t-ili'v we 

asainst ,he Fodo . Gove „„^ f nH '"" ^''"'^i^'" °f "H H'^ir demands 

wield on V a personal inflMPn,-o 'rp.„ o "^legale irora a ] ernloiy can 
State u-ieid /pMca"X^ce u^i oJ,^ ft'' "f R'^PJ-^'-n'^.tives of a 

for Florida, u-o.^jrerllot'o^.^'he'lonrir'"" "'" ''"'^"^'•" "^'^''' 
citLnVfa^'IlIJm.'^^trviee^', '!rr^r"' T'' ""''""'' >-' '"" '» "" 
Honda l„rm,l,„aand volunteers of IS3S. lliO, and lli^ The V r 

bv inl '""ili" f '"^r"'"--"™' »,'■ °- -'i-- for losses "ustTined 

4. The recla.Dation iVom the United States of our distributive nronor 

tmn oi the surplus revenue shared among the States "irveari&T 

The lund which was distributed, was the proceed of taxes levied as well 

pon the Hihabuants of (he Territories as upon those ot the States and 

rooortit'' m" 'T''^ V''' ^'''^'' '^'^'^ 'Territories in t e"' due 
p opo tion. Ahhough It was distributed under the anise of a deposit it is 

urplus' t":^7t:'thrnJ '\''Vl^%' ^^-vn into a permanent rSratio f 
surplus taxes to the people of the States. All the Territories, then, in ex- 



13 

istence at the date of the act, were entitled to their due proporliou. Ar- 
kansas, Michigan, and Florida, weie the only Territories at that lime. Ar- 
kansas and Michigan received their proportion upon iheir admission. 
Florida will be entitled to hers; and we may well expect that, when once 
admitted, we would readily obtain it. The amount would be disposable 
at our pleasure, for the support of State Government, or otherwise, and ' 
would constitute a considerable fund, to wit : $382,335. 

Fifth. The next advantage to be enumerated will be the greater ability 
we shall have of protecting our citizens in their just rights. 

Let us take an instance or two: Under a State Government we could 
successfully maintain our citizens in the possession of their homes against 
the Hackley or any other one of the grants to the Dukes of Alagon, Punon 
Rostro, and De Vargas. As a Territory we could not, because it is in the 
power of Congress to repeal at pleasuie the lavv's of the Territory. If it be 
said tliat Congress would not do this, 1 refer your recollection to one me- 
morable histance (among many others) of this violent suppression of an 
act of legislation of our Territory, which we deemed to be due to the just 
protection of our own citizens. Our Legislature pas.sed an act, in 1834, 
impooing n. tax on cj\ttl© ranging upon our pastures, when owned by non- 
residents, who used tlie benefit of our country, to the injury of our own 
citizens, without being present to contribute to the duties of citizenship. 
Congress repealed this law, and provided imprisonment to be inflicted 
upon any officer or citizen o( Florida who attempted toentorce it. Yes, 
the prison was to be the doom of the Freemen of Florida, if they dared 
to execute a law of their own Legislature ! This could never happen un- 
der a State Government. 

Again. Our citizens, in some parts of East Florida, are outrageously 
annoyed and injured by the immense extent of reservations subjected to 
exclusive military authority. Under a State Government, the United 
States could not exercise exclusive jurisdiction over one acre of land with- 
in our limits, without first asking and obtaining the consent of our Legis- 
lature. 

Many other like instances might b ■ given of the better ability we should 
have to protect the just rights of our citizens. 

Sixth. The next advantage we would have would be in better legisla- 
tion, and a belter administration of the laws. 

There would be more interest taken by the body of our citizens in the 
Legislature of the State, a stricter responsibility on the part of the Legis- 
lature, and a greater degree of pride felt in the character, dignity, and 
wholesomeness of our legislative action. And the laws, when made, 
would be more satisfactorily administered by officers of our own selection, 
and directly responsible to ourselves. I mean, by this remark, no dis- 
paragement to the gentlemen at present concerned in the administration of 
the laws, but it is obvious to all that those officers are best to be relied upon 
who derive their authority from the same power which enacts the laws 
they are to administer. 

Seventh. Another advantage from admission into the Union will he, that 
the immense land grants which cover so much of the best portions of our 
country, will be more likely to be brought quickly into market, and dis- 
posed of to settlers at reasonable prices. The "Forbes Grant" covers one 
million two hundred thousand acres, the "Arredondo Grant" nearly 300,000. 
The ".Hackley"grantees claim twelve millions of acres; and there are innu- 



* 14 

merable grants of fifteen and tv/enty thousand acres, shinglinor the country. 
Much of these, in fact the greater part of the large grants, are owned by- 
persons not resident in Florida, and who are altogether indifferent about 
our prosperity or convenience, but only concerned in making the utmost 
possible profit from their grants. So long as we remain a Territory, and 
they can keep their lands without expense, they have no inducement to bring 
them into market at prices which settlers can 'at present afford. 'J'he same 
rate of taxes which the man of moderate possessions will pay under a State 
Government, would, in the course of a year or two, open the eyes of these 
large proprietors to the necessity and propriety of disposingof their lands by 
quick sales. Let me not be understood as recommending any unequal leo-is- 
lation towards this class of property holders— far from it. But the annu- 
al bill of taxes, required to be paid up in cash, by those who hold over- 
grown claims m our midst, would, by a natural and beneficial operation, 
relieve us in a short time of those blotches of waste forest, which will 
otherwise so long interrupt the continuity of settlement and improvement 
in the fairest portions of our country. This view is based upon sound 
and legitimate principles of policy. It is injurious to a community lo have 
large portions of its productive soil in an untenanted and unimproved 
state. As a general rule, tlie pi'osperiiy of ilie conmuniiy is retarded by 
the monopoly of more land by any one person than he can reasonably 
use, or can dispose of within a reasonable time to those who will use it. 
The soil which God has given lo man for tillage, should not be made a 
subject of unreasonable monopoly, and be withheld from market and the 
uses of agriculture too long, as a means of speculation and profit. It is 
immoral, as well as violative of good policy. The true interest of are- 
publican community is to have its lands held in small parcels, and occu- 
pied and cultivated by owners of the freehold. If, then, by the natural 
operation of equal laws, this policy can be promoted, it is legitimate and 
proper. If individuals will, for profit, monopolize to themselve more than 
a reasonable share of the soil, they cailnot complain if they are made to 
pay a contribution as mucii larger in proportion to their neighbors, as the 
proportion of their acres bears to those of their neighbors; and if the ef- 
fect of this is to make them divide their possessions for reasonable conside- 
ration with others, dividing thus also the burthens of it, ii is a happy and 
desirable effect. 

Eighth. Another advantage will be in the opportunity we shall have of con- 
tributing to the promotion of such of the federal policy as may be in our 
opinion most just, and equal, and salutary. An advantage not to be dis- 
regarded when we reflect that that the laws of the United States operate 
upon us lor weal or wo, in precisely the same extent that they do upon the 
citizens of a State; and yet no voice can we exert in the enactment or re- 
peal of a United Slates statute. 

Many other direct advantages occur to me, but it is not necessary te> 
extend this branch of our inquiry. One more only will I notice, to wit : 

Ninth. The next and last advantage I will advert to, (and because last, by 
no means least in importance,) is the truly great privilege ©f self-govern- 
ment. The high, the inappreciable, prerogative of self-government, of 
independence, of individual sovereignty ! We ought not to overlook the 
true value of this inestimable right. It was for this the patriots of the Re- 
volution fought — and for this so many martyrs have fallen. It is the 
theme which daily dwells upon the tongues of all our countrymen of the 



15 

States. The spirit of it is instilled intvo the souls of our youth from the 
hour they can learn to lisp the ianguao^e of freedom. It is a condition 
which dignifies man, and expands him to his full stature— which enno- 
bles his nature, animates his soul, elevates his thoughts. It is Ihe perfec- 
tion of political existence, for which the free spirit of man yearns, as the 
soul does for immortality, and until he re;\ches which he feels there is 
something wanting— a higher state yet to be enjoyed. Who that has the 
power and the right to be free, would live the life and die the death of de- 
pendence ! It is of the essence of man to scorn dependence of his will, 
and to aspire to that uncontrolled, equal, sovereign right of free agency 
and self-government, which Nature and Nature's God^'designed to he the 
inheritance of his creatures. For this mucii has ever been sacrificed. 
For this I am sure we will be prepared to sacrifice oiuch. 

The next view of the question relates to the burthens of the chanffe from Terri- 
torial to State Government. 

There can be no doubt that we shall find the cost of a State Government incon- 
venient. At present no taxes are paid; of course, the change from total exemption 
to any taxation at all will be felt inconveniently. In assuming this burthen, then, 
a generous sacrifice is necessary. 

Whether wR are able to make this sacrifice, and how and to what extent we 
shall be recompensed for it, it is proper to weigh. 

ver^nmcnt'"'" ^"^ ^ ^°"«'^^''^''0" of our ability to maintain an independent State Go- 

The first inquiry respects the cost of a State Government 

There is no reason why we should not be able to support a State Government 
a as cheap a rae as o her States the population of which assimilates to ours ia 
numbers. Fhe three States which approach nearest to ours in numbers are • 

Khode island, the population of which is - - inft con 

Arkansas, " . . _ l^^l^l 

The cost of supporting the Government in these States is as f.Jlows • ' 
Khode Island, total cost, including State prison, - _ ftoq nno 

Delaware, whole expenditure in 1842, - . 27 424 

Arkansas (the expenditure of this State I have not been able to obtain.) ' 
The chief expenditure in the States is for interest upon public debt, appropria- 
t ions for internal improvements, support of schools, insane hospitals, and other 

tirwTdo'L;"''"'"'' "^^ "'"' '' "''*^^ ^^p^°^- "-^ ---- -y -o- 

Governor"^' '" '''"'* '"''Ti^'Sn^" ^''""' ^^ ^ ^'^''^^ ^»«^^"^« ^^^ Florida : 
governor, - - - |l,500 Legislative exoenses- 

Secretary of Slate, - - 1,200 41 Membprs P^"'^'" 

FourJudges, at $2,000, - 8.000 16 Senators ' 

Attorney General, - - 1,000 &. fees — 

C„mp„„IK • - ,-,,cS Tra,eU.gandco„u.gea.„ 

Miscellaneous expenses, in- -»,vAAi 

eluding cost of criminal TTom 

prosecutions, over and a- i*,4W 

bove fines and penalties, 
(note 1,) - - - 8,000 

22,500 



^6,760 



shatVc. &/3V6 'r ^' '"'"^"" '" '''' ^''' 'y ''''^^' «'^983 64; by mar- 



16 

The above would be a very liberal permanent scale of cost; but, for the first 
two or three years, it might be greatly reduced; for instance : 
The Attorney General might be allowed only $250 and fees, saving - 750 
Solicitors might be allowed fees only, saving - - - - 1 000 

Secretary of State and Treasurer might be united, savino^ - - 800 

Members of Legislature might be allowed $3 per day, saving - - 2,565 

Mileage and contingent expenses, and miscellaneous expenses, might, by 

economy, be reduced - - - - - -2 500 



. $7,115 

Which would reduce the cost to $29,645. 

But rate the cost even at $40,000, (which is $11,000 more than above esti- 
mated,) can we raise that with convenience? 

We have been in the habit of underrating our resources. The statistics of the 
late census disclose the remarkable fact that Florida stands fourth on the list of 
all the States and Territories of the Union in the proportion of the value of her 
annual products to her free population. Louisiana, Mississippi, and Rhode Island 
alone exceed Florida; the other Slates, except Alabama, which is on a par with 
Florida, all being below, and many far below her. As compared with Iowa, 
Florida is very far superior. While the proportion of Florida is SftlOS to eacli 
person, that of Iowa is only $27. As compared with the slave Stales, Florida 
stands third on the list. 

We have a fine climate, fertile soil, rich and rare staples, and industrious and 
eaterprising people, the most valuable fisheries on the American coast, the only 
naval depot south of Virginia, and the third commercial city of the Gulf — Apa- 
lachicola. Willi all these elements of public wealth, we may fairly esteem our- 
selves to be capable of contributing for the support of independence, as much, 
and with as much ease, as the citizens of any State. 

As Alabama stands upon a precise equality with Florida in respect to the an- 
nual value of her products as compared with the white population, and is belowus 
in productiveness, as compared with the whole population, we will take the tax- 
list of that State, and see what amount of revenue would be raised in a year, if our 
citizens were to pay the same taxes which a citizen of Alabama pays. 
Lands, six millions of acres, at $2 50 average per acre, $15,000,000, at 20 cents 

per $100 $30,000 

Town property, $l,000,O0O,at the same rate - - - 2,000 

Slaves not exceeding ten years, at 10 cents, 11,070 - - - 1,107 

Do over 10 and under 50, 19,000, at 50 cents - - - 9,500 

Free negroes and mulattoes, 419 at $1 - - - - 419 

White males over 21 and under 45, 9,236, at 25 cents - - 2,309 

Neat cattle (over 40 head.) There were 118,000 in 1840; double - 

in 1845 ; and deduct one-third for the 40 head, leaves 158,000 - 1,580 

Factors, 25 cents for every $100 of commission, $50,000 - - 125 

Auction sales,2 per cent.— say $500,000 - - - - 10,000 

Every $100 of merchandise sold, (not manufacture of Slate) say 

$3,000,000, at 20 cents ------ 6,000 

Horses kept exclusively for saddle— say 1,000, at 50 cents - - 500 

Pleasure carriages, gold and silver watches, pedlars, race-tracks, bil- 
liard-tables, &c. estimated in gross . - - - 5,000 

$68,544 
But this sum of $68,544, to which, adding for our fisheries $1,500, would amount 
to $70,004, would be infinitely more than we should require to raise. Nearly 
double too much. 



17 

Let us make a table of revenue at much reduced rates of tax, and more properly 
distributed, to yield the sum we shall require, viz : 

Land at two and a half mills per acre, six millions of acres, (1) - $15,000 
Slaves, over 10 and under 55, 20,887, (2) at 25 cents - - 5,222 

Town property, at 10 cents per $100, $15,000,000, (3) - - 1,500 

Ten cents on every $100 of merchandize sold— say $3,000,000, (4) 3,000 

Auction sales, (5) - - - - - - - 8,000 

Fisheries, (6) ------ - 3,500 

Saw-mills, 10 cents on every $100 invested— $488,950, (7) - 488,95 

Professions — Lawyers 100, Doctors 50, at $10 each, (8) - - 1,500 

Railroad and Banking incorporations, and stock in same, Bank agencies, 

and money loaned out on mortgage, (9) - - - - 3,500 

Miscellaneous — to wit : Pedlars, transient merchants, shows, billiard ta- 
bles, gold and silver plate, pleasure carriages, &c. - - - 5,000 

$44,710 
Here then, with one-half the taxes paid by a citizen of Alabama, vre could raise 

more than enough to support a State Government ; and as compared with South 

Carolina, Mississippi, and other Southern States, the rates will be found to be 

nearly two-thirds less. 

The foregoing estimated revenue of $44,710, is lilteen thousand dollars more 

than is required by one of my estimates of cost of supporting a State Government, 

and $9,950, more than the highest estimates. 

But suppose from the sources above indicated we failed to raise enough. A 

poll or capitation tax of 75 cents, ihe same which is paid in Mississippi, and 

most other Southern States, would give at once $7,857 more; and who would be- 

NOTES. 

'(1.) This computation of the quantity of lands held as private property, includes pub- 
lic lands sold since the cession of Florida, grants already confirmed and surveyed, 
grants confirmed and to be surveyed, with a very moderate addition for claims likely to 
be yet confirmed. 

(2.) To the numbers shown by the last census, I have added the increase up to 
1845, adopting as the rule of increase, the per centum of increase between the years 
1830 and 1840, to wit: 54 per cent. The increase, however, must be much greater 
than I have made it, because the immigration has been far greater in the last five years 
than at any former period. 

(3.). The value of town property in the cities of Pensacola, Apalachicola, Mariana, 
Q,uincy, Tallahassee, Monticello, Newnansville, Madison, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, 
and Key West, is moderately estimated at one million and a half. 
, (4.) When it is recollected that the exports of Florida exceed $5,000,000, it will be seen 
that $3,000,000 is a very low computation of the amount of sales of merchandize, as 
the imports are usually rather more in amount than exports. 

(5.) The amount of tax oa auction sales returned under our vtry loose Territorial sys- 
tenl, was 

In 1840 $4,685 22 

1841 3,594 00 

1842 2,441 58 

1843 - - - - - - . 3,622 07 

(6.) The fisheries on the southern coast are of great value. Florida, by the iast cen- 
sus, ranked THIRD on the list of States and Terrhories in the value of her fi&heries. The 
fishers from Cuba and the other West India islands, who are obliged to come to the 
Florida side for good fishing ground, can readily afford a hberal tax for license. $1,500 
is a v4ry low estimate. 



n.^ See census of 1840. 



The lucrative professions, being quasi monopolies, ought to be taxed, and can 
l«ar It. The clergy, constituting a prolession devoted to benevolent uses, and not pur- 
sued lor profit, ought not be taxed. 
(9.) A ver) low estimate. 



18 

grudge 75 cents a year, for two or three years, out of his gains, for such a pur- 
pose as the support of his independence? 

Now let each citizen calculate by the above table what his annual tax would 
be, and he can say whether he could bear it without sensible injury. 

Jt is true, that many of those who have recently settled under the armed occu- 
pation act, are not well enotigh established as yet to bear extra expense; but that 
objection is removed by the fact that until five years have expired, they will be 
subject to no tax at all for their land, and the only tax for which they would be 
called upon, would be twenty five cents for each slave between 10 and 55 years 
of age. 

Let us take the case of a farmer in ordinary circumstances, and see what his 
tax would be. 

If he has a quarter section of land, and works it by his own labor, and that of 
his family, his whole tax for the year would be 40 cents. 

If he has 5 slavi s between 10 and 55 years of age, he would pay in addition 
^1 25, making ^1 65 per annum. 

A man who has a whole section of land, and twenty slaves to work it, would 
pay for his whole tax, ,'f^6 60; which ten bushels of corn, at 75 cents per bushel, 
would more than pay. 

A resident of a town, who owned a house and lot, worth ^500 would 
pay 50 cents. 

Jfhis house was of a belter style, and was worth $1,000, he would pay 
one dollar. 

If he sacrificed so much to grandeur and comfort as to require a house which 
cost $5,000 or $10,000, his tax would be $5 or $10, as the case might be. 

A laborer, who owned no house or land, would pay nothing. 

It is to be confessed, that the burden would be more inconveniently felt by those 
speculators and grantees, who hold large bodies of land; but if they choose to ar- 
rest the settlement and productive resources of the country, by holding back their 
lands from market for higher prices, it is fair they should p<iy for the privilege. 
And so long as they are not required to pay more than their equal proportion, 
they should be content to make the sacrifice, for the benefit of those who, by 
their labor, are developing the resources of the country, and thus daily enhancing 
the value of all the lands in it. 

Partisans, and those who are interested in keeping Florida out of the Union, 
either for parly purposes, or for profit in land speculations and charters, &c. will 
seek to cypher out a very frightful bill of costs and of taxation ; but let the sober- 
minded citizens of the country make their own calculations, and they will not 
much differ from mine. 

If it should be thought that we have the ability to maintain a State Government, 
we may next consider whether the advantages of the change justify the sacrifice, 
first of interest, and second of opinion. 

The only sacrifice of interest will be in assuming the cost of self-government. 

Contrast, then, the benefits which wtU be derived from a change of Government, 
and let each man, calculating his own bill of taxes, determine if he will pay its 
amount for such benefits. 

What are these benefits ? 

1. lie acquires the prerogative of self-government. 

2. lie gels, for the education of each of his children, $480 per annum. (Let 
him ask himself what his school bill costs now.) 

3. He secures $400,000 per annum for the improvement of roads and rivers — 
giving employment to his own fellow citizens in the work. 

4. He acquires a mora secure protection against Federal oppression. 

5. He hastens the settlement of the claims of the country against the United 
States. 



19 

6. He preserves the balance of power in the Senate, and thus saves his own rights, 
in common with those of his Southern brethren geneially, from the danger of being 
trampled upon. 

7. He participates, as an equal with the rest of the citizens ol the Union, in the con- 
duct of the greatest republic of the world; and influences, in his due proportion, 
the action of the Government upv>n his own individual interests. 

8. At this particular juncture he can give his aid in securing to the South and 
the country, the great blessing and benefit of the acquisition of Texas. 

The only sacrifice of opinion which is required, will be from those who prefer 
a division into two Territories, and those who are opposed to a division upon 
any terms. 

The preference for a division into Iwo Territories, is entertained by a large- 
and respectable portion of our fellow-citizens, who are animated to this policy by 
the truly Southern and patriotic purpose of gaining additional strength to the 
South in the National Councils. 

The project of a division into two Territories is entirely impracticable. No 
party, or section of Congress, gives favor to it. They would admit into the 
Union a portion of Florida, and organize the rest into a Territory — but they 
will not duplicate the expense ot supporting us by making two Territories. 
Every reasonable man will see that this is a natural disposition. The only pur- 
pose of Territorial Government is the maintenance of civil police until ihe popu- 
lation is sufficient for independent Government. This purpose is sufficiently at- 
tained by the present Government in Florid^i; and there is, therefore, no coun- 
tenance given to a proposition which viill not only double the cost, but protract 
the continuance of that cost to an indefinite period. Other Territories have been 
divided, but it was on account of such unwieldy extent of Territory that one 
Government was incapable of maintaining a police control over the whole. 
When Iowa was divided from Wisconsin, it was because the Territory 
covered an area of 300,000 square miles, which is about six times the 
size of the whole of Florida. The area of Iowa is now 200,000 square 
miles, and that of Wisconsin 95,000 square miles; while the highest estimate 
ever made of the area of Florida is 55,000 square miles, and most geographers 
state it to be from 47,000 to 54,000. The resolutions of the Legislature of Flo- 
rida, and of public meetings in reference to the same subject, were duly presented 
in both houses of Congress, and reports were made in eacli. For the informa- 
tion of all, 1 will cause to be appended to this communiction, a copy of the re- 
port in each house; and it is due to you I should say, that these reports are in 
conformity, as far as the refusal to divide into two Territories is concerned, with 
the unanimous sentiment of all parties. A large party will be decidedly opposed 
to any provision by which the formation of two States at any lime to come, 
may be promoted. There will be even a very ])owerful effort made to defeat 
our admission as a slave State now or at any time, even without a provision for 
prospective division; but it is my opinion that a bill in the shape of the one re- 
ported by the committee at the last fiession, can be carried, if united with the- 
Iowa bill, and pressed at the same time. 

The sacrifice of opinion vvhich the consent to present admission involves, is 
recommended by the consideration that from the existing juncture of af- 
fairs, the scheme of admission now, with a provision for a division here- 
after, is the only practicable mode of securing this object. It must be 
borne in mind that it is not our will, but the will of Congress, which 
must govern in respect to this question. At present, the South is in a position 
to msistupon and secure this measure, as a just and reasonable provision for the 
preservation of the political balance in the Government. But let the North once 
acquire a decided preponderance in the legislative power of Government, and all 
possibility of a division upon any terms ceases forever. No party combination?, 



20 

or party power, can control ii. It will merge into a struggle for power between 
the two divisions of North .inci South, and geographical, not party lines, will con- 
trol the issue. Such has ever been, and ever will he, the history of such con- 
tests. The admission, then, of Iowa, followed as it will be by that of Wisconsin, 
at the very next session afterwards, will be the seal of doom to division, at any 
time, or u|)<)n any terms — unless, indeed, which is impossible, we should con- 
sent to the abolition of the institution of slavery. 

It IS lurther recommended by the consideration, that it is now ,, at this pre- 
sent juncture, that the South requires to be strengthened, and that hereafter our 
aid will be comparatively valueless. 

The sacrifice of opinion which admission upon the terms of a prospective divi- 
sion involves, is recommended to those who are hostile to a division at any time, 
by the consideration, that it may become indispensably necessary in a future stage 
of the Federal history, that we should throw the weight of another State into the 
scale of the South, at every hazard and sacrifice. A sudden emergency may re- 
quire a sudden remedy and defence. The provision being of i character not re- 
quiring the future action of Congress, this defensive power will be held ready 
to be exerted upon the instant of necessity. And I am very sure that whatever 
may be our individual views uf policy, we are all iii.peliecl l>y a tieariy sympa- 
thy with the South, and will prefer to be in a position to be most serviceable in 
lime of most need. 

lam aware that the 6th section of the act for our admission reported by the 
committee, will be as opposite to the wishes of that poition of our fellow-citizens 
who prefer the admission of Florida as a whole — one and indivisible forever — as 
the present admission upon any terms will be to the wishes of those who prefer 
two Territories at this time. But the scheme presents itselfas a compromise be- 
tween the two extremes of opinion. It will involve a mutual concession, and 
mutual sacrifice, for the common good, and for the South. 

I have thus presented to you, fellow-citizens, with as much brevity as possi- 
ble, the interesting suliject to which this communication relates. You have been 
pleased to charge me with the care and supervision of your inteiests at Washing- 
ton. Here, upon the theatre of Federal transactions, the importance of the approach- 
ing and impending crisis has forced itself upon my view, and I should have re- 
garded myself as recreant to your interests, had I failed to bring the matter before 
you for consideration. I could never have ceased to re^^roach myself, had I silent- 
ly permitted the power to pass away from your hands, of securing such perma- 
nent basis for your political relations as you may desire; or allowed you to be- 
come the ministers and instruments of a Southern suicide, by yielding the un- 
checked powers of Government to the North, without apprizing you of the dan- 
ger. My duty has been discharged, and 1 humbly ask your direction. 

It may be thought by some, that I should, before closing, express the opinion 
of my own mind, as to'what the occasion demands. Lest any one of my fellow- 
citizens may be disappointed by my refraining from doing so, I wjU not hesitate 
to express clearly my own individual sentiments. 

The irresistible conclusion to which my mind has come, after an anxious re- 
view of the whole ground, is, that duty to the South, and a proper policy on our 
own part, requires that we should enter the Union with Iowa, upon the terras of 
the bill reported, if we are able to maintain an indepenpent Government, and that 
"we should even submit to much sacrifice in doing so. I believe, that if we allow 
this opportunity to pass by, we shall hold our domestic rights at the mercy of 
the North; that all possibility of forming two Stales will pass away forever; that 
our admission as even one State, would in future be attended with the most vio- 
lent conflict, and danger to the harmony and perpetuity of the Union ; that we 
should inflict a deadly blow upon the power of the South with the destinies ot 
^hich we are indissolublv involved; and that our course, unless we show the 



21 



rnast palpable reasons of inability to meet the expectations ol <>" /^"J^y"^^ .^ 
fhis critical juncture, would excite a dissatisiact.on, which would, 1 fear, be elt 
n uHou y in our subsequent Territorial history. That our own interest, and the 
nie est of the South, unite in recommending the policy of admission, there .s no 
;tesion inmy rrund, and [ freely, and candidly, f ^'-^ ^'^ VP^-^.^^^^. 
other considerations not herein adverted to, but deeply connected ^^''^ ;'he gene 
ralDolicv of the country, and of the South, and which will suggest themselves 
o fll wL have given io the existing state of Federal affairs that -xious auen- 
tion which the times demand, combine to strengthen this conclusion. 1 here are 
few,T am persuaded, who w'iU not see reason for concurring in this conclusion, 
when they frankly and seriously canvass the subject in the.r «7" "J^^. . 

The main point by which, as it seems to me, we must be controlled is the abi- 
lity of our people to maintain an independent Government. lh,s rest, upon he 
conclusion to vhich each individual may come in his own mind as to whether 
hi sources will enable him to meet his share of the burden -^thout intoiera 
Linconvenience;andwhelherheiswillingto incur the.mmediatesac^^^^^^^^^^^ 
cost, in view of he present countc-rbalancing advantages, and fu ure benelits^ 
Th IS not a question of principle, but of fact and feeling, which addresses Use f 
to each citizen, u. be d J.lcd for himself. Of course, therelorc, 1 express no opi- 
nion but respectfully submit the whole matter to the judgment ot my tellow-ci- 
tizen's, for such instruction to me as they may please to give. It is a question 
of expediency, and my course in respect to it will be determmed altogether by 
the commands of those I represent. ., ,. .• . n 

In conclusion, fellow-citizens, 1 implore you to consider this subject as a t\o- 
rida question, totally disconnected with all party considerations We have a 
duty of patriotism to perform, and at the altar of Patriotism, all American par- 
ties meet. Whether Whig or Republican, all are Americans, all h loridians. In 
considerin<r, therefore, if we will minister to our country's good, by a temporary 
sacrifice of opinion and convenience, let us proceed to the decision with a grave 
appreciation of the responsibility that rests upon us, and a deterniination to sepa- 
rate so vital an issue from all the minor considerations of party difference, or party 
ascendancy. Above all, my fellow-citizens, let us so order our action upon the 
subject, that come what may in the future, there shall be no just cause either ot 
self-reproach, or of condemnation by our peers of the South. 

Your fellow-citizen, 

D. LEVY. 



IN SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, JUNE 17, 1844. 

Mr. Bagby made the following report : 

The Committee on Territories, to which was referred resolutions of the Legislative 
Council of Florida, and of citizens of St. Johns county, Florida, praying for a division 
of said Territory, and the establishment of two separate territonal governments, have, 
unanimously, instructed me to report the following resolution : 

Resolved, That the prayer of the memorialists ought not to be granted. 

The above report was considered, and agreed to. 

■ HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

Mr. A. V. Brown, from the Committee on Territories, made the following report: 
The Committee on Territories, to whom were referred certain resolutions of the 

legislative councU of the Territory of Florida, respecting a division of said Territory, 

ask leave to report: 

That the said resolutions, after setting forth sundry reasons m support of the po- 
licy and propriety of the measure they propose, proceed to ask the passage ot a law 



22 

dividing the Territory of Florida, and establis'iing two separate Territorial Govern- 
ments, to be called, respectively. East and West Florida. 

The committee, having given lull and respectful consideration to the reasons sug- 
gested in the preamble of said resolutions, and the ari^unients advanced in the proceed- 
ings and memorial of a public meeting of the citizens of St. John's county, which were 
also referred to them, have come to the conclusion, that, although a sufficient ground 
exists for the erection of two States w^ithin the limits of iho present Territory ol Florida, 
it would be enlirr'y out of the question, and inadmissible, to entertain for a moment a 
proposition to ' ;i ate two Territories there. 

The wliole policy of this Government, and all the principles upon which its insti- 
tions rest, are adverse to the long continuance of a Territorial Government over any por- 
tion of the citizens of the country. The right and the duty of self-government are fun- 
damental maxims of the political system of America. The territorial organization, for 
purposes of local police over such portions of the public domain as are occupied by a 
population too weak to maintain the forms and exercise the prerogatives of an indepen- 
dent and sovereign organization, is never designed for other than a temporary purpose. 
It is contrary to a true policy, as well as to republican propriety, that a supreme and 
despotic rule should be held by this Government over any portion of the freemen of the 
land ; and if, from the necessity of the case, the Government has been obliged to pre- 
scribe regulations for, and exercise control over, the inhabitants of territories not in- 
cluded in the limits of any one of the sovon iga Stalra, it Kn.- been wiili llie design Of 

raising them, by its lostering care and protection, with as little delay as possible, to a 
condition in which they may be able to assert and assume that high privilege of self- 
government, which is the right oi all men, and take their place as an independent commu- 
nity in the galaxy of American States. It is abhorrent to all the feelin2[s and cherished 
principles of the freemen of this republic, that there should exist within its limits, for 
any length of time, or for any time not demanded by an unavoidable necessity, a com- 
munity of free citizens, who, without participating in the conduct and control of 
this Government, should be completely subject to its will and dictation. Nor is it 
compatible with the feelings which should actuate every American, to submit, for one mo- 
ment longer than necessity obliges, to a Government imposed by the will of others, and 
in the form or conduct of which the governed have no other direction or voice, than is 
allowed by the permission or favor of the governors. The committee, therefore, feel 
assured that the freemen of Florida, (whose bosoms they presume, of course, 
heave with all the same high impulses of liberty and manly as[)irations for 
self-government which mark the character o( the rest of their fellow-citizens, are 
as anxious to be rid of the burdens and tyranny of a territorial condition, as their fel- 
low-citizens of the States are to relieve them. The States of this Union, exulting ia 
the glory and happiness of their own t^overeign and prosperous condition, have watched 
with anxiety the period when they inight receive into equal confraternity, and hail into 
the circle of their Union, as an independent and free member of their political family, 
the bright star of the South. They have regretted the calamities which have attended 
the history, and embarrassed the progress, of this interesling [)ortion of their country- 
men; and, while sympathizing with them, have yet looked forward to a speedy day 
when the title of Floridian might serve to designate a citizen of a fn e State of this 
Union, instead of an inhabitant of a subject and dependent community, enjoying no 
political rights, but reduced to receive as a boon whatever of the forms and benefits of 
free government a superior may vouchsafe. 

The Territory of Florida was acquired in the year 1821, and a Territorial Government 
at once estabhshed. Twenty three years have now elapsed, during which this Govern- 
n)ent has incurred the expense and responsibility of governing its intiabitants. The pe- 
riod for which this relation of Territorial dependence has existed on the part of Florida, 
already far exceeds, willi a single exception, what has ever occurred, or been permitted 
before, in the case of any other Territory of this Union. The committee know too well 
how to appreciate the manly and American character of the people of Florida, to be- 
lieve for an instant that they have any disposition to barter their independence and the 
glorious and ins|)iring right of self-government, for the pecuniary benefits of a Territo- 
rial condition. They well know that the high souled people of Florida would spurn 
such motive. The freemen of no part of this country would be content to barter their 
liberties for dollars; and they feel well assured, therefore, that Florida, with her genial 
climate and teeming soil, harbors no spirits so base as to be lured to loiter in their on- 



23 



ward course to the goal of free government by the little pebbles ofirrain which may lie 
scattered ,n the way. The cora.nittee are too deeply impressed wi7h a sense of the d^ 

gradmgand injurious influences wh>ch a long hnbit of dependence is calculated to produce 
on the character ot the people, .0 think it all advisable on the part of this Govemmen' 

to protract for any considerable lime the relation of sovereign and subject as between 
wh'. ^T™-7'-^"^ ''-; t-«Pl« of ^ny p.rt of ,ts domam. The uneSpled lenXo 
which the exstence of this relation has extended in the case of Florida, may be aUrJ 
bated to a variety of causes some of which deeply appeal to the sympathies of the na- 
T; hi? """^RU " ^^'5hi dawn of prosperity b.gins to spread tfs joyous mantle 
over her sunny fields, it would be comrary to all the just hopes and expicialions of the 
country, and to all the rules which have governed the policy of this nation in respect 
to Its lerntones, to sanction a measure which would postpone again for an indefinhe 
penod the termination of a TerntoriHl Government there, an.i im^^pose upon the States 
llorganSon:;-'""" "'' ^""'^' °^ maintaining, durtng that'period'; two Terrtto 
The steps which are being taken in the Territory of Iowa, preparatory to the adoption 
of a State Government, and the nature of the application by that Territory at tL present 
ess.on upon that subject, tndicate a purpose to press for admission at the nex sess on 
this Congress. The practice has now, smce the date of the Missouri compromise, very pr^ 
pe ly become one ol settled policy to preserve, as nearly as possible, in one of th^ branches 
of the legislature ot the Union, that balance of power between two of the great d v sions 

perous confederacy should not on U b^f bu f'el i sdnrrsec, re w'?^ '"' P''^^" 
unequal action of the Federal Le4lature unon To I nf 'th!? f^ "'' ^u^ .""•^"'' ''' 
somewise conflict with the interests policy 'orpeiadi'e. o hirn^' ""^'^ "'"^ j'^ 
thus that there can be preserved that entire Confide .ccAn^b^nnrKP *'""'• u^ u' ""^^ 
desirable to be maintained by all just a J c mc.lLtory ntt?^ harmony which is so 
considerations that the comm^ttee\ave'tLSghrl;Tr^^^^^^^^^ 

lor the admission of Florida n the aniif^imtirrn .Kot .kA t r \ "-"M^roject ol a bill 

design to withdraw their applical.nrS^ on',' ,^^^ '^ -^ 

which has been suspended, it is presumed, n.amly in deferen^to the e!,aWl h ? "P°'' 
of'h^^ruri?'"''','"' ^"i--''^^-'^" ^°^^^ - - tL eveTp^l cing^: SK'uifs^^^^^ 

glo^?s:i;;eor:fcu^io^:-3-^^^^ 

ce.ved m generous and warm-hearted Florida to linger and retrace hastens ^ 

rantage of Florida will be mutually served Thev 1^^ 't ^^^^^'^'^^'^^ •''"d the ad- 
themselves, and conformable to that spTnt' of liberamv .17' P'-^'^^^"^ ^l>«t ^^ 
always governed Congress upon tLe occSn of he a" m'^^ has 

inaportant of the provisions contained in the bill n a nS. 1 . r -• ^he most 

which provides for a division of Fbriia into vo Stated he e fter Th "'^' ''• '^'' 
due to the people of Florida from the fac that Vh^ tL f ^^'^edfter. This provision is 

chicola nver was, in fact, the boundary of the t^nT' ''''''■' "''^'^".^^ '^^ ^P'''^- 
done because it is the line proposedlLsad reTol. .inn '■■ ^T'^'t f^'' ^^' ^^^^ 
to be preferred by the people of Florida and he bMI n n .' r'^ 'I '^'^'''^^'^ presumed 
the people ol each section • for with m.'r th. t ^r u'''^' ^^'/''^ previous assent of 

try between the Apalachico la a^d S^' ^^^^^^ t' P^«P5e inhabiting the coun- 

-connection with East to West Flori?. TT ' ^^'^ T^^ T ^' transferred from their 
tion of the spirit oftheirea^f 'der whi h h ' "^'"^ ^' ^^reaher, as it would be in viola- 

up for action. ' '^ apphcation of Iowa to be admitted is brought 



24 



Bill for the admission of Florida into the Union, on certain conditions. 
Whereas a constitution having been adopted by the people of Florida, in convention, 
on the eleventh day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty-nine : 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Ame- 
rica in Couirress assembled, That Florida shall be admitted as a State into this Union, on 
an equal footing with ihe original States, in all respects whatever, under the constitution 
aforesaid and upon the following fundamental conditions, namely : 1 hat the i^egis- 
liture of 'Florida shall pass an act, to be irrevocable without the consent ol Congress 
disclaiming all title to the public domain of the United States, or any part therpot, and 
all rin-lil to tax the same, and shall transmit to the President of the United Stales aa 
authentic copy of the said act; upon the receipt whereof, the President, by proclama- 
tion shall announce the fact: whereupon, and without any further proceedmgs on 
the part of Congress, the admission of smid State into this Union shall be considered as 

^°Se'i^^^2 And be it further enacted, That, until otherwise provided by Congress or 
authorized by a new apportionment under the census, the said State shall be entlUed 
to one Representative in the House of Representatives of the United States. 

Sec 3 And be it further enacted. That said State shall embrace the Territories ot 
East and West Florida, which, by the treaty of amity, settlements, and limits between 
the United States and his Catholic Majesty, on the twenty-second day^ot i'ebruary, 
anno Domini eighteen hundred and nineteen, were ceded to the United Slates. 

Soci And be U nether enucCtU, Tli.i ^ecuu.. uuiub^r sixiee.x in every cownsnip, 
or other lands equivalent thereto, shall be granted to the State for the use of the inhabi- 
mnts of such township, for the use of schools; also eight entire sections of land for the 
nurpose of fixing their seat of government, to be selected by the Legislature olsaid 
sS also two entire townships of land, in addition to the two townships already re- 
served fo the use of two seminaries of learning-one to be located eas , and the other 
welt of the Suwannee river ; also five per centum of the nett proceeds ot the sale of 
Ss vvi hin said State, which shall be hereafter sold by Congress alter deduc in^ aU 
expen^ss incident to the sa.^^^^ said nett proceeds shall be applied by said 

^'t:''tl7b:Ufi^:::^ed, That ior the relief of those of the citiz^of 
Florida who have been impoverished by the depredations of Indians ^""ng the rece^ 
Seri nol7hostilities, there be granted to said State townships of land, to 

beXted w hlf he limits oT said State, in such manner as the Legislature thereof 
may direct,^nd located in parcels conformably to sectional divisions and subdivisions 
d- not less han three hundred and twenty acres in any one location : Provided, Thai 
?he whole ofTaid grant shall be applied in such mnnner, and according to such rule of 
distrTbuton asthf Legislature of said State shall provide, to the indemnification of 
Ee o the inhabitants of Florida who have sustained loss of property since the first 
iay of November, anno Domini eighteen hundred and and thirty-five, by reason of the 
Seminole hosulioes in ^J^^^V^ ^^^^ ^,^„^,,, ^,^.,, ,, U have been fuUy ^^^^ 
•u ^\«n S^Veol the Union it shall be lawful for the Legislature of said State to 

coStSplw the name of the State of East Florida;'andall that portion design a ed as VVest 

That said act oroviding for the division as aforesaid, shall not be passed Dy tne L^gis 
L re" a?o;e?a^ exc%t with the assent of the -^f^^^^'^^^^^t^n^^^t^^^^ 
and House of Representatives of the Legislature "^l^^J^^jf ^^^, J" Xn^tde ±1 

p ublican in iheir fonc. 

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